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This Shapeshifting Paper Puzzle Could Change The Way We Build Things

Harvard researchers have developed a reconfigurable structure that looks like a 3D shapeshifting puzzle. They built it from metamaterials – materials whose function is determined by structure, not composition. By scanning close to a million different designs, the model selects the best one for each function. The design strategy is scale independent, which means it can be applied to everything from meter-scale architectures to reconfigurable nanoscale systems (for example, this prototype can be used for building foldable solar panels).

This Shapeshifting Paper Puzzle Could Change The Way We Build Things

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Harvard researchers have developed a reconfigurable structure that looks like a 3D shapeshifting puzzle. They built it from metamaterials – materials whose function is determined by structure, not composition. By scanning close to a million different designs, the model selects the best one for each function. The design strategy is scale independent, which means it can be applied to everything from meter-scale architectures to reconfigurable nanoscale systems (for example, this prototype can be used for building foldable solar panels).

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Shape shifting materials will be just one more advance that will alter our civilization. And the material of choice will be.....Carbon. Carbon has a built in ability for memory. Its over ten times stronger than steel, and even lighter. It will have many uses here on earth, but the sky is literally the limit in space. Space structures would be able to change shapes, size, and structure, with the built-in memory that carbon can do.

Shape shifting materials will be just one more advance that will alter our civilization. And the material of choice will be.....Carbon. Carbon has a built in ability for memory. Its over ten times stronger than steel, and even lighter. It will have many uses here on earth, but the sky is literally the limit in space. Space structures would be able to change shapes, size, and structure, with the built-in memory that carbon can do.